You Can Now Create Group Chats in Spotify DMs (for Some Reason).
If you and your friends have similar musical tastes, you probably message each other on messaging apps about what you’re listening to. I know that when I stumble upon something new I like—or even something I think is complete crap—I send it to a group chat to discuss it. Of course, I simply forward the song to the group chat in Messages, like I would anything else I’d like to share with that group. However, if you have Spotify, you have a new option for group chat: Spotify itself.
Spotify fans may already know that the in-app messaging feature launched back in August . While its primary purpose is to send Spotify content to your friends, it’s a basic messaging feature, meaning you can send any text, including emojis. It’s available to any Spotify user, whether you have a Premium or free account, as long as you’re at least 16 years old. There’s nothing new about this.
Today’s new feature is the number of people you can chat with simultaneously in Spotify Chat. Since August, chats have been limited to one-on-one interactions. Now, you can add up to nine people simultaneously to a single conversation. This means you can create group chats for up to 10 people to discuss new music, podcasts, audiobooks, or, of course, anything else—if, of course, you really want to migrate your private messages to Spotify.
How to create a group chat on Spotify
To get started, open Spotify on your mobile device (this isn’t currently supported on desktop), then tap your profile in the upper-right corner. Find “Messages” at the bottom of this menu, then select “New Message.” If this is your first time chatting with people on Spotify, you’ll need to invite others to the chat before you can create a new message. Here, you’ll have the option to share a link to invite a friend to join your message. You can also find this option in the “Share” menu on any Spotify content by selecting “Invite Friends.”
Once you’ve started sending a message, you can create new ones, including group chats. Return to the Messages menu or tap the Share button for a song, podcast, or audiobook, then select “Create Group.” From there, select the friends you’d like to add from the suggested options, then select “Create Group” again to complete the chat. Spotify says the suggestions list includes people you’ve previously shared content with, created playlists with, or participated in a shared playlist or chat with, or who have an active Family or Duo plan. If they don’t appear, you can always select the invite option to contact them directly.
Anyone who creates a group officially becomes its administrator. As an administrator, you have the right to add or remove any member from the group chat. If you are in a group chat, you are marked as “Member.” Invited members are marked as “Pending.” An administrator, like any member, can block any user from the group chat for any reason.
The question is, do you really want to create a separate group chat just for Spotify? Perhaps if this feature had been included when the app launched years ago, things would have been different. But people are stubborn: it’s very difficult to convince people to switch chat apps, especially if they’re doing it for one specific reason. Instead of creating another thread to follow, I think it’s better to simply send links to the main group chat—and I think other chat participants will agree.
How to turn off Spotify notifications
If you don’t want to use Spotify Messenger at all, you can opt out and avoid being added to future group and individual chats. To do this, open your profile, select “Settings and Privacy,” then tap “Privacy and Social.” Scroll down to the “Social Features” section and toggle off “Messages.”